Meet Your Counselors
Spend a week with like-minded folk, singing, strumming, writing, reflecting, and philosophizing on the possibilities of music. Added to this sympathetic environment, we have some of the finest musicians available to share their experience and insight, and a fantastic body of attendees, who never cease to amaze with their enthusiasm, breadth of knowledge, and development.
RICHARD THOMPSON
Richard Thompson is a critically acclaimed guitarist, singer, and songwriter, with a unique style and vision.
Richard grew up in London, the son of a music-loving policeman father and a Vera Lynn sound-alike mother. His early musical taste was shaped by Django, Jimmy Shand, and Jerry Lee on the family gramophone. His early school band featured Hugh Cornwell (of the Stranglers), before he co-founded Fairport Convention as a teenager. He then had a ten year collaboration with his ex-wife Linda Thompson before a highly successful solo career that has resulted in more than 40 records, numerous film and television scores, and over 400 songs. Selections from his critically acclaimed catalogue have been recorded by Elvis Costello, Robert Plant, Los Lobos, REM, Bonnie Raitt, Alison Krauss, and countless others, earning him both the British Ivor Novello Award for Songwriting as well as Lifetime Achievement Awards for Songwriting at the Americana Awards in both Nashville and London as well as the BBC.
As a guitar player, Thompson is a musician’s musician. Wildly innovative on both electric or acoustic guitars, his distinctive style incorporates a wide range of influences, from traditional British and Celtic styles to jazz, rockabilly, and more. He has been recognized with the Orville H Gibson Best Acoustic Guitarist Award, the MOJO Les Paul Award, plus Rolling Stone Magazine’s Top 20 Guitarists of All Time list. He was honoured by the Queen of England with the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to music, and by the University of Aberdeen with an Honorary Doctorate. On the Americanarama Tour, Bob Dylan himself played Thompson’s song ‘1952 Vincent Black Lightning.’
He has released two ‘lockdown’ EPs, ‘Bloody Noses’ and ‘Serpent’s Tears”. His memoir ‘Beeswing’, released in April 2021, is a Sunday Times non-fiction top five bestseller.
John Doyle
Name many of the most notable recordings and/or performers in Irish music and it's a fair bet that John Doyle had something to do with them. Liz Carroll; Eileen Ivers; Karan Casey; Solas; Michael Black; Mary Black; the trio of McCusker, McGoldrick and Doyle; The Teetotalers (Martin Hayes, Kevin Crawford, John Doyle); and now Usher's Island (Andy Irvine, Donal Lunny, Mike McGoldrick, Paddy Glackin and John Doyle) - a vertible who's who of the greatest names in Irish music. These are just a very few of the stellar artists for whom John Doyle's signature guitar sound, singing or songwriting is essential.
From a musical family in Dublin, John’s influences include well known English folk singers Nic Jones, Martin Carthy, Richard Thompson, and The Watersons; Scottish singers Dick Gaughan and John Martin; and fellow Irishmen Paul Brady and Al O’Donnell as well as his father, Sean Doyle - probably the biggest influence of all. John went on the road as a pro at 16 with the group Chanting House which he formed with Susan McKeown and which eventually included such great players as Seamus Egan, Eileen Ivers, & Donogh Hennessy. John went on to form the highly acclaimed super group, Solas, with Seamus Egan, John Williams, Karan Casey and Winifred Horan which took the folk and Celtic music worlds by storm, in no small part due to John’s powerhouse rhythmic guitar style and innovative arrangements. As a member of Solas, John performed to sold out audiences nationally and internationally as well as appearing on many national TV and radio programs: NBC’s The Today Show, various programs for National Public Radio and Public Radio International, A Prairie Home Companion, Mountain Stage, E-Town and World Cafe as part of that critically acclaimed group, he also received three NAIRD awards and a Grammy nomination for the band’s self-titled first recording.
After leaving Solas, John has gone on to perform and tour with other greats in the Folk, Celtic and Bluegrass worlds - as music director for folk icon Joan Baez, guitarist for Mary Chapin Carpenter, Eileen Ivers, Tim O’Brien (John was included on Tim’s 2006 Grammy-award winning CD, Fiddler’s Green), Linda Thompson, Kate Rusby, Cathie Ryan, Cherish the Ladies, and many others. He has appeared on soundtracks for the feature film, The Brothers McMullan, Soldier, PBS’s Out of Ireland and also composed the music for the film Uncle Robert’s Footsteps and the play Down the Flats as well as performing on countless recordings as guitarist and/or singer for other notable artists such as Kate Rusby, Linda Thompson, Tim O’Brien, Alison Brown, Seamus Egan, Eileen Ivers, Mick Moloney, Cathal McConnell, Karan Casey and so many others (check out the discography page for a full list). John is a featured regular for many years in the hugely popular BBC Scotland "Transatlantic Sessions" regularly broadcast in Ireland and at the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow having performed there with Americana greats Jerry Douglas, Tim O'Brien, Rodney Crowell, Sara Watkins, Kathy Mattea, and many others.
There are few artists more respected in the genre or more in demand in the studio, as songwriter, as performer. A few recent highlights listed below:
2009, St. Patrick's Day - Performed as duo of Liz Carroll/John Doyle for President Obama, the full U.S Congress, Vice-President Biden, and then Taoiseach Brian Cowan
2010 - Received Grammy Nomination for "Best Traditional World Album" for "Double Play", Liz Carroll and John Doyle
2008-2010 - Toured with Joan Baez as her Music Director/guitarist/singer
2014-- Guitarist with Mary Chapin Carpenter
In recent years, John has focused primarily on writing songs based on the varied experiences of Irish emmigrants - his great grandfather on the torpedoed S.S. Arabic in 1915; famine victims on the coffin ships to Quebec; Confederate and Union Irish fighting against one another at Fredericksburg; an Irishman's journey through the First World War. In reviews, these songs on Doyle's 2012 release, "Shadow and Light" have been said "to be destined to be classics in the Irish folk music songbook. His talents as songwriter are rare and exquisite."
Tift Merritt
The New Yorker has called Tift Merritt “the bearer of a proud tradition of distaff country soul that reaches back to artists like Dusty Springfield and Bobbie Gentry.” Upholding that high standard began in earnest with Bramble Rose, the 2002 solo debut that put her on the map forever. The Associated Press called it the best debut of the year in any genre. As her Grammy-nominated sophomore album, Tambourine, was followed by Another Country, See You on the Moon and Traveling Alone, Merritt found acclaim coming not just from critics and awards organizations but her own heroes, like Emmylou Harris, who marveled that Merritt “stood out like a diamond in a coal patch.” In 2015 “Bramble Rose” the song from her eponymous debut was covered by Don Henley (feat. Mick Jagger and Miranda Lambert) on his critically acclaimed solo album Cass County. BUST raved of Merritt’s latest album, “Stitch of the World resonates like a book you just cannot put down,” and NPR wrote, “Stitch of the World contains some of her best writing.”
Merritt is a North Carolina native who wanted to be a writer until her father taught her guitar chords and Percy Sledge songs. Since starting a band while a creative writing student at UNC, Merritt has released a unique, critically acclaimed body of work including seven full length albums of original material and three live records. In her nearly 20-year career, she has toured around the world and shared the stage with bands as varied as Iron & Wine, Nick Lowe, and Jason Isbell. Merritt has also recorded with classical pianist Simone Dinnerstein and played harmonic foil and rhythm guitar for the singular Andrew Bird in his old-time band ‘The Hands of Glory’. Most recently, Merritt has been a regular contributor to the Oxford American, chronicling her travels with her young daughter Jean.
TEDDY THOMPSON
Teddy Thompson is an acclaimed singer-songwriter with a career that has consistently garnered critical praise. NPR proclaims that he’s “the musical equivalent of an arrow to the heart,” while The New York Times calls his work “beautifully finessed.” Teddy released his first, self- titled album in 2000.
In 2002, Thompson played a key role in drawing his mother out of a 17-year musical retirement to record her landmark disc Fashionably Late, which he played on and co-produced. Thompson also toured as part of Rosanne Cash’s band before signing with Verve. Soon after, Thompson released his much lauded 2006 sophomore album Separate Ways, which demonstrated how much his songwriting, performing and record-making skills had evolved since his debut. It was followed in 2007 by Up Front & Down Low, a collection of personally charged readings of classic American country songs that demonstrated Thompson's increased assurance as a performer and interpreter. In 2008, Thompson released the upbeat and highly acclaimed, A Piece of What You Need, which was declared “one of this year’s best” by The Guardian and debuted at #9 in the UK’s pop charts. A fifth studio effort, Bella, was released February 2011 to much acclaim and led to touring the world with Elton John among other things.
In 2014 Thompson gathered his musical clan to release Family, one of the folk records of the year which garnered a multi-page, in depth piece from The New York Times magazine. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/magazine/teddy-thompsons-folk-rock-family-reunion.html
In 2016 Teddy released Little Windows, a record of original duets with singer Kelly Jones. The album was recorded live to tape and features an all-star band of backing musicians. Teddy also produced Dori Freeman’s debut album which was hailed by The New York Times as one of the year’s best https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/07/arts/music/new-albums-from-infamous-stringdusters-trixie-whitley-and-others.html?_r=0
2017 saw the release of the long-awaited Shelby Lynn & Allsion Moorer duets record, Not Dark Yet, produced by Thompson.
Teddy’s new album, Heartbreaker Please is out now!
HAPPY TRAUM
HAPPY TRAUM
Happy Traum’s decades-long involvement in traditional and contemporary folk music has brought him recognition as a performer, writer, editor, teacher, recording artist and first-rate fingerstyle guitarist. He was a student of blues guitar legend Brownie McGhee, who was a major influence on his guitar style. An active participant in the legendary Greenwich Village folk scene, Happy made his recording debut in 1963 with Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Pete Seeger, Gil Turner and others, and later recorded three duets with Dylan on his Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 album. He has since played in concerts, clubs and festivals throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia and Japan, both solo and with his late brother, Artie Traum. He has released numerous CDs and has performed and/or recorded with Dylan, Levon Helm, John Sebastian, Larry Campbell, Chris Smither, Maria Muldaur, Eric Andersen, Rory Block, Allen Ginsberg and many other major figures in the folk music world.
As one of America’s best-known guitar instructors, Happy has taught at major guitar camps, clinics and workshops throughout the country. He is the author of more than a dozen best-selling guitar instruction books and has written numerous articles for leading music publications. As the co-owner (with Jane Traum) of Homespun Tapes, Happy has produced more than 500 music lessons on DVDs, books and CDs with some of the world’s top artists.
SLOAN WAINWRIGHT
Sloan Wainwright is a singer and a songwriter of rare power and subtlety serving up doses of the real and the mysterious in a soaring, soulful contralto. Singing with the extended McGarrigle-Wainwright family, Sloan has rocked the house from Carnegie Hall to London’s Royal Albert Hall,
and has released eleven memorable records since her self-titled debut in 1994. She brings the same energy to her work as a solo artist, melding the best of pop, folk, jazz, and blues to create a unique, soulful hybrid. Sloan has been playing clubs, concerts, and festivals coast to coast for over three decades, triggering tears, hoots and hollers with deeply personal lyrics that connect life’s mysterious dots.
A born storyteller and poet, Sloan started writing songs when she was 10. “Sitting at the piano and making up songs was my playground – a very safe place, magical and mystical. I surprised myself with what was in my head and how it all fit together.”
For the last 29 years, she has been sharing that process with students, spreading the gospel of personal expression and lyrical reinvention. Sloan’s open-hearted approach to singing, songwriting and letting loose has made her a treasured presence at a host of prestigious workshops, including The Swannanoa Gathering, Summersongs, Summer Acoustic Music Week, Winter Acoustic Weekend, Cape Cod Songwriters Retreat, Moab Folk Camp, and Frets and Refrains Guitar & Songwriting Camp. She is thrilled to be returning to Frets and Refrains again this summer, to share her love of song and story.
BOBBY EICHORN
Bobby Eichorn is a songwriter, producer, studio engineer, guitar builder and, most importantly, musician. As a Jack of all trades, he has been involved with Richard Thompson’s various projects (RT Band, RT Trio, 1000 Years, Cabaret of Souls and recently played guitar on RT’s “13 Rivers” CD). For the past two decades as Stage Manager, Instrument Tech as well as additional guitar or bass player when needed. Aside from Richard, Bobby has worked with many other musicians including Carly Simon, Aretha Franklin, Bon Jovi, Ian Hunter, Ben Taylor, and Hall & Oats just to name a few.
As a songwriter, Bobby has charted on Billboard’s Hot 100/Top 10 AOR as well as several hits in many countries around the world including TV and film credits.
Bobby also composes and produces his own music available at:
CD Baby http://cdbaby.com/cd/bobbyicon
iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/alias-nation/id563518199
JACK COVEY THOMPSON
Jack is the son of Richard Thompson and Nancy Covey so being on stage playing music or talking on mic is in his genes. He has recorded music around the world including CDs with Henry Kaiser, Cuban musician Yelfris Valdez, The Thompson Family. Jack now lives in London where he plays in various projects ranging from Ambient music to Metal.
With degrees in History and Art History, Jack is also an accomplished abstract painter who recently began doing custom drum-kits and guitars for various musicians as well as album covers and shirt designs for bands in Europe and America. In his free time he studies history, travels, and operates his own music collective and label.
Jack is a keen naturalist and zoologist so he is your “go to” man if you need help with identifying any of the wildlife at camp – as well as help finding classes, answering questions about the camp, animals, your instrument or if you need some solid bass for your new song at the Open Mic – so feel free to ask him anything!
Jack is in charge of the F&R merchandise store and the Zoe Klimley Scholarship Program. Jack is the Coordinator and host of the F&R Open Mic along with Bobby Eichorn and Zak Hobbs. He will be your MC and DJ host of the phenomenal old-school Dance Party on our final night at Frets & Refrains!
ZAK HOBBS
Singer-songwriter, guitarist, London born Zak Hobbs is the grandson of Richard and Linda Thompson, and nephew to Teddy and Jack. In 2015, Zak featured on his family’s collaborative album, called Thompson. Based in the UK Zak works as a solo artist and as a guitarist with Eliza Carthy, The Rails, Sunny Ozell and others.
Zak is an advanced student of Richard’s Hybrid picking technique, a specialty he has been successfully teaching for the last 7 years. Zak will be hosting the workshop, “Creating A Fingerstyle Arrangement in Three Styles.” Time is also given to further tackling the music taught by Richard throughout the week.
In the evenings Zak co-hosts the Open Mic and is on constant standby if you need guitar accompaniment for your song.
SIMON TASSANO
From folk and folk-rock to the improvisional jazz scene in London in the late 80s, to Welsh rock and reggae, to modern dance sound tracks, to alt pop, world and orchestral music, London born Simon Tassano has been involved with the making, recording, mixing and production of music for many years.
He was Richard Thompson’s engineer and tour manager for 40 years, both live and in the studio. His expertise in mixing and preparing live recordings for commercial release was employed on Thompson’s Grammy nominated Dream Attic. He has also had a long collaboration with didgeridoo master Stephen Kent, working together through Lights In a Fat City (the original didgeridoo based combo of the London Rave scene in the mid/late 80’s who released the seminal LP “Somewhere”), Trance Mission (San Francisco based “4th World” band), dance pieces, and many solo projects as producer and engineer. During the “lock-down”, he has been working closely with Tift Merritt and Peter Askim, mixing orchestral recordings of a suite of Tift’s songs and completed a series of projects with Shawn Colvin. He is working on producing & mixing a body of work by the extremely talented Welsh singer / songwriter, Rob Lear.
Simon retired from the road in September 2021 and has recently moved to Charlottesville, VA with his wife, Annaliese, where he intends to spend his time in his mix room, interacting with the local music scene and growing a garden.
He produces and mixes music, corporate podcasts and records the occasional voice over. He is available to mix your project!
Contact him at simon@rumiville.com if you are interested in talking to him about the services he offers.
Check out his Bandcamp page - https://simontassano.bandcamp.com
and his website - http://www.rumiville.com
ANNALIESE TASSANO
Annaliese’s photographic specialties include the the performing arts, equestrian subjects, and fine art. Her work has been seen in many publications, such as Rolling Stone, Variety, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. Her fine art work has been recognized in Ex Arte Equinus, Creative Quarterly, Spectrum, many group shows, and a solo show at The Rehoboth Art League. Her professional writing credits include a column for C’ville Weekly, one for The Hook, and many private, non-profit, and corporate clients. She’ll be documenting all of camp, and images will be available for review and purchase soon after. A copy of one of the group images will be sent to, courtesy of Frets and Refrains.
View Annaliese’s work at:
http://www.annaliesetassano.com
http://www.stagerightphoto.com
http://www.equigraphic.com